I’m Don McCrea and I’m founder of Your Business Legacy. My passion is helping family business owners realize their dreams—for themselves, for their families, for their employees and other stakeholders, and to retire successfully and comfortably.
I help individuals and their businesses achieve phenomenal, enduring success. I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes in a variety of capacities—business strategist; management, marketing and sales consultant; sales, marketing, and systems development manager; intrapreneur (in-house entrepreneur); and systems designer; custom education solutions consultant; and educator.
I work with my clients in a consultative style which uncovers underlying issues, causes, and needs. I value diversity, cooperation, and teamwork—and the significant resulting benefits. Two themes underlie all aspects of my consulting. The first is the creation of significant value, which has led to an attitude of “What else is possible; in what other ways can I create the greatest possible value for my clients?” This theme is especially evident in my approach to custom client solutions—a striving to create such value for my clients that they truly value the results we create together.
The second is my strong desire to see my clients succeed spectacularly, which has led to conscious choices to work exclusively with family businesses.
My previous consulting assignment was as Director of Strategic Alliances for Executive and Professional Education in UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering. Prior to this, I served as consultant with UCLA’s Anderson School of Management as Director of Custom Solutions for Executive Education Programs, as well as leading its corporate governance education programs.
I hold a Ph.D. in Executive Management from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan. I’m a member of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and the Association for Transpersonal Psychology.
I have over 20 years experience in executive education as faculty, administrator, and executive student. Prior to my work with UCLA, I was Director of Executive Education for the Merage School of Management at University of California, Irvine and Director of the Executive Degree Program at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at ClaremontGraduateUniversity. I taught for five years in Pepperdine University’s Executive, Professional, and full-time MBA programs.
I have almost 30 years of experience with Fortune 100 computer companies (NCR Corporation, Unisys, Digital Equipment Corporation) and the Department of Defense as a systems designer, senior systems development manager, product manager, and senior marketing and sales manager. I’ve sold and marketed to global clients in industrial, consumer, and government markets and is a consultant to business on marketing and sales issues.
So, as you can see, I’ve done a lot of things and had a lot of careers (about 12, I believe at this point, with more emerging!). My career life has gone in 15-year cycles, with the first 15 years in computer systems design, development, and management; the next 15 years in computer services sales, sales management, and new business startups; and the third 15 years in academia as professor and executive education consultant. Throughout all of this time, I’ve been a business and marketing/sales consultant—mostly with small businesses because of the value they create for their owners and for the communities in which they do business.
I’m now about three years into my fourth 15-year cycle. I thought this one was going to be built around my interest and desire to be a really good securities trader, specializing in stock index futures, which would then provide me the time and financial resources to do what I really wanted to do, which still wasn’t clear to me, but that I would have the time and resources to discover or to encourage to emerge.
However, I never made much money at trading (I never lost much either, fortunately), and have had to really look at why (I was good at the technicalities of trading and markets) and at what was I then going to do to supplement my retirement since it was insufficient to support my current lifestyle for another 30+ years.
After looking at the question of why I couldn’t seem to make money at trading, I had to come to the conclusion that it was my beliefs about money and myself (whatever these were) at a deep level that held me back. This realization has started me on a quest to find out who I really am, what do I really believe, and if these beliefs are not truly enhancing to me and my quality of life, how do I find them and change them?
The processes I’ve been going through and am still going through, and what I’m finding out about myself are the basis and motivation for this blog. I suspect that most of you who have found your way to this blog are somewhere along the same path and are asking some of the same questions about yourself.
I encourage you to share your experiences with the rest of us, as I’m going to be doing, and to share your wisdom and what you’re learning along the way.
Thank you for your interest, enthusiasm, and openness in our mutual journeys!
~ Don McCrea, July 2013 (Updated March 2018)
